Few people know Giovanni van Bronckhorst any better than Jan Wouters.
When the current Rangers boss first arrived at Ibrox as a player in 1998, Wouters was a coach working under Dick Advocaat. And when van Bronckhorst became a gaffer for the first time at Feyenoord 17 years later, he made Wouters one of his assistants. The 62-year-old has taken a keener interest in Rangers’ results since his fellow Dutchman took over from Steven Gerrard 12 months ago. He was full of admiration – but not surprise – at the job he did in leading the club to the Europa League Final in May. And Wouters is now well aware of how things have turned sour for van Bronckhorst at Ibrox.
The club were humiliated in the Champions League as six straight group-stage defeats saw them labelled the tournament’s worst team ever. Even worse, dropping seven points in their last five Premiership games has left Gers trailing Celtic by nine at the top of the Premiership table. Van Bronckhorst is now fighting for his future at Ibrox, with a large section of the support wanting him sacked. Wouters is adamant the Dutchman won’t walk away, irrespective of how tough it gets.
And he insists a crippling injury list has played a huge part in the team’s regression this season. That’s why he hopes the Rangers board remember how well van Bronckhorst performed in Europe last season – and give him the time to get it right.
Wouters told MailSport : “I know Gio as a coach and as a person. He will believe within himself that he can turn it around at Rangers.
“They’ve had something like 10 injuries this season, so players will be coming back into his squad. Sometimes as a coach – especially if you’re missing 10 players – you need time.
“Because the subs coming in might not be as good as the injured players who are out. So you need time to get them back. Obviously as a manager, you never know whether you’ll get that time or not.
“I know from being at Rangers that you have to be the No.1, above Celtic, but that’s why it’s even more important that he gets the time. The people at the club must realise exactly why it’s not going well for them right now.
“If they can stand above that, they can still be successful. They have to be smart.”
Van Bronckhorst’s work is now under serious scrutiny among the Ibrox support. One of the questions being asked is why he hasn’t delved into the Dutch market for new players – the one he knows best.
Rangers’ summer recruitment was hit and miss. While the likes of Antonio Colak and Tom Lawrence – who is crocked – look good acquisitions, Rabbi Matondo, Ben Davies and Malik Tillman haven’t cut the mustard so far.
Wouters knows it’s difficult to snare the Eredivisie’s top talent without breaking the bank. And he reiterated that with the likes of Lawrence returning, as well as adding new faces in January, van Bronckhorst can get it right. The former Ajax and Bayern Munich star also knows a victory in January’s Old Firm derby against Celtic will ease some of the pain.
He said: “I don’t know why Gio hasn’t signed Dutch players like Dick did when we were there but it’s probably because they’re too expensive now for Rangers. To get good players from Eredivisie, you have to spend a lot of money, it can cost you £20million or £30m.
“I believe Gio can turn it around at Rangers, for sure. When players come back, as well as buying one or two in January, I’m certain he can do it.
“The next Old Firm game is in January and we all know that would help. That’s how it works in Glasgow.”
When Advocaat took over at Gers in ’98, he won a domestic Treble and enjoyed instant success. But the tide eventually turned with Martin O’Neill’s Celtic taking over before he was replaced by Alex McLeish.
Wouters says van Bronckhorst won’t walk away – and neither did Advocaat. He said: “At that time Dick thought he wanted to be something other than a football coach.
“He wanted to be a technical director at the time so he moved upstairs at Rangers when Alex came in. But Dick noticed after a while that he missed the football pitch, so he didn’t walk away.”
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